The Other Side
by yotb0ka
Summary: When hope was gone in a world with no Superman, they decided to take justice in their own hands. CHLOLLIE. AU inspired by Luthor episode.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: The Other Side  
><strong>Author<strong>: **cara410** (_therealcaramel_) and **kachica** (_yotb0ka_)  
><strong>Pairing<strong>: Chlollie  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13 (subject might change)  
><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: We don't own anything. Everything belongs to their respective owners.  
><strong>Summary<strong>: When hope was gone in a world with no Superman, they decided to take justice in their own hands. CHLOLLIE. AU inspired by Luthor episode.

**Chapter 1**

It had been two months since Lois and him had broken off their engagement. Now that he thought about it, he realized that they probably would have gone on with their wedding plans hadn't Ultraman started his terror show in Metropolis.

Ultraman, like the tyrant he was, had made them realize that they'd first have to fight for their city if they really wanted a future together.

Lois and him were a great team, had always been. That was one thing he had loved about _them_.

Indeed, after spending much time researching together, they had discovered his weakness. Paperwork in one of the Luthor facilities had made them learn about a green rock Lionel Luthor had been stacking in mass in a small town called Smallville. He had thought about it being some kind of weapon of mass destruction. Only God knew what the Luthors were really capable of.

But when he had gotten one of the rocks tested, his scientists had assured him that it wasn't toxic, not a threat as far as they knew. Surprisingly, they had also told him that the rocks weren't from Earth. And that the green rock had somewhat reacted with Ultraman's blood sample he had once provided them.

He hadn't been sure of what it really meant, or if Clark Luthor even knew about the rocks' existence… But he knew what Lionel was capable of against his own blood. Lex Luthor had been an unfortunate victim of his ties to that despicable man.

He had no doubt that Lionel would want some kind of defense against his son, if ever Clark decided to start thinking for himself. The green rocks had only been a lucky guess. He had only recently tested that theory, which had proven itself to be right.

Still, while he had been busy focusing on their fight against Ultraman, Lois had been faster to catch up on another realization. Lois and him made a terrific team, had been working fantastically as snoops, there was no denying that. They also got along terribly well as friends, were sexually compatible, but there had always been that something lacking in their relationship.

Yeah, they weren't in love with each other. Had never been. Sure, they did love each other, but not in the way it mattered.

They were just settling for each other.

He had wanted to deny it, but had soon realized that it was useless. If he was honest with himself, he'd admit that the decision to ask her to marry him had been more of a logical step in the progression of their relationship than a matter of heart. Lois was right.

He had asked for some time away from her. She had understood, like always. They had agreed on continuing their research separately, exchanging notes with each new piece of information they'd collect. It had been working out pretty well, so far.

Becoming one of the city's less liked citizens had admittedly been a little bump in his pride, though. He had been forced to close down two facilities, laying off thousands of workers, in order to get the money he needed for his plan. After all, those green rocks seemed to only be available where Lionel had been stacking them up, and he needed them badly, even if he had had to use less than legal methods to obtain them. Lois wouldn't agree with his methods if he told her how he had acquired the rocks, and that knowledge made him thankful that they had agree to put some distance between each other.

The less she knew about how he had fallen into the grey - how he had had to, in order to deceive the Luthors - the better.

He liked to think that maybe, at the end of all this, when they had taken care of Ultraman, people would recognize all he had done for them, and he'd be able to face his reflection in the mirror. But he had to remind himself that, in any case, he wasn't doing it for recognition, no, he was doing it for his city, for his planet.

Thanks to Lois's contacts, they had recently succeeded, anonymously, getting the news about Ultraman's Achilles' heel out. And had been able to provide the inhabitants with green rocks to protect themselves from Ultraman. That had slowed him down a bit, while they were still trying to look for a way to get rid of him permanently.

What he hadn't expected was Lionel learning about how he had acquired the rocks. Though he had had no direct contact with him, he had instantly connected the dots when he became the victim of too many unfortunate and almost fatal accidents for them to really be coincidental. He knew that it could only have been the oldest Luthor; Ultraman would have been less subtle.

It was actually at one of Luthor's several attempts at his life that he first saw her. A petite and seemingly fragile blonde who had more in her little self than met the eye. He hadn't seen her face, thanks to her black sunglasses that she was wearing at night, but he could have bet that a body as gorgeous as hers had to hold a pretty face. Dressed in tight black jeans and an equally tight black shirt, he hadn't been able to ignore her body; she had curves in the all right places, though admittedly, in his situation he should have been more interested in saving his own life than checking her out.

He had been as perplexed as he had been amazed by her. She had singlehandedly taken out the two guys who had cornered him. And then, she had left without a word.

Who was she? Why was she doing this? Didn't she know that being a vigilante was against the law?

Then again, who was he to talk? What he was doing with Lois wasn't exactly 100% lawful either… He had to do something, though.

He hadn't expected to see her again. He had wanted to though, and had began hoping, since he knew that she was also fighting the good fight, that they'd cross paths again.

If anything, for him to give her his thanks. She had saved his life, after all.

He hadn't expected her to come knocking at his door two days later. With no black outfit and no sunglasses this time, he had almost not recognized her. He probably wouldn't have, if not for his mind, which had been replaying his encounter with her in loop. He'd now recognize that body anywhere.

He felt himself smiling as he saw her face, through the security camera, as he buzzed her in. She had the kind of smile that could light up a whole room, had the most amazing green eyes he had ever seen. He'd been right. She had a pretty face. Pretty being an understatement, naturally.

He wanted to laugh at his own thoughts. He was smitten and he didn't even know her name. He didn't even know what she was doing there, at his place.

The smile faded when she entered the room though. Before he had the time to ask, she had already introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Lois's cousin. I came to pick up a pair of shoes she swears she's forgotten here. She'd have come herself, but her job is keeping her busy."

His gaze dropped. He tried to compose himself, taking in what she had just said.

_Lois's cousin_. Yeah, so, she was definitely off-limits.

He tried to ignore that sudden hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach and extended his arm, offering his hand.

"Oliver Queen," he said stiffly.

"Chloe Sullivan," she replied, with a small smile, shaking his hand.

He led her to his room, to the box where he kept Lois's stuff, in silence, not really knowing what to tell her. Hadn't she recognized him from the other night? Was she pretending she hadn't?

She was kneeling at the box, checking if it was the right shoe, when he finally figured that was his only chance of thanking her.

"You saved me the other night. I never had the opportunity to thank you… So, thanks."

She froze at his words with the shoe in her hands falling back into the box with a small thud.

He smiled at her reaction. So, she probably hadn't realized who she had saved on that night.

"How did you…?" she asked, as she turned her head around and looked up at him.

She didn't have to complete her sentence for him to understand what she meant.

He shrugged.

"Well, let's just say that I have a good eye…" he started, not being able to admit that in fact, she had caught his eye. "And, no offense intended, but your disguise is not exactly the best out there. A little more color wouldn't hurt. I'd bet green would fit you alright."

"Oh," she replied, dropping her gaze. "I really hadn't…" she started saying as he also started speaking.

"How come I've never met you when I was with Lois?"

She stopped and answered his question.

"Long story, short… I've been abroad working a lot, in a lot of different countries."

He nodded at her explanation.

"What do you do exactly besides saving damsels in distress like me?"

She laughed at this and answered, "This is pretty much what I do for a living…"

Oliver looked at her, amused.

"I'm just kidding!" she added quickly, giving him one of her warm smiles.

"OK."

"I'm a journalist…"she continued, more seriously. Her eyes had become guarded, seemingly fixed on something far away. "I've…I've had to come back here after hearing about Ultraman and what happened to the Luthors…"

She didn't offer more and he didn't push for it. He didn't want to pry but he suspected she must have wanted to return after learning about Lex's death.

"Why do you…?" he trailed, not knowing whether he should really ask her about her nightly activities.

"I'm just trying to do something for this city," she still replied, knowing he would have asked her about her reasons.

"We are more alike than I thought."

She looked up at him, but said nothing for a long time.

"I guess so," she eventually replied. "I've heard about what you're doing against Ultraman."

He didn't ask her how. He knew Lois hadn't said a word about what they were doing to anyone. He also knew that the woman in front of him was resourceful enough to learn about it on her own.

"I have friends…" she continued. "We'd like to help."

_**TBC**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Drumming his fingers along the steering wheel, he tried his best to concentrate on his driving and willed his mind not to wander back to the short minutes he had spent with her. But of course, the more he tried not to think about her, the more he did.

Gaze fixed on the road, his thoughts drifted back to the conversation they had shared.

"We'd like to help," she had told him. Yet, as soon as he had tried to get to know who the 'we' had referred to, she had become evasive. She had used Lois's shoes as excuse, to explain her need to leave quickly, making sure she had gotten him to accept to meet her again the following night, so that she could explain everything.

_Tonight_.

Of course, he had immediately accepted. At that time, it had seemed like the logical thing to do. She had been haunting his thoughts and she had magically reentered his life. He did not want her out of it so quickly.

In retrospect though, he realized that his attraction to her could really be intelligence-numbing.

Apart from her family ties to Lois, he knew almost nothing about her.

What if the Luthors had somehow found a way to get her on their side?

He had been too quick to accept to meet her again. He should have made a background check on her. Should have trusted more than his guts and Lois's words on her.

Indeed, he had called Lois as soon as they had parted on the precedent night. Had interrogated her on the younger cousin as subtly as he'd known how to. Thankfully, Lois hadn't spared any information on Chloe.

Lois had spoken fondly of her, admitting that they weren't as close as she'd like to. He also learnt that Chloe hadn't been around much. That meant that the blonde hadn't been lying when she had told him about being all around the world…

Lois hadn't been able to enlighten him on what, exactly, she had been doing, though. It seemed that they hadn't been keeping in touch with each other while she'd been away. Still, Lois had shared that she had proposed to share her apartment with Chloe as soon as she had learned about the latter coming back to Metropolis, to catch up on lost time and to get to know her little cousin better.

He hadn't pushed for more information, had instead had to stop himself from revealing what little he knew about Chloe, when Lois had pleaded for him not to try and involve her cousin in what they were doing.

The realization that both cousins held no knowledge of the other's actions made him uncomfortable – Chloe had also asked him not to breathe a word of their conversation to Lois. But he figured that it wasn't his business to interfere.

Still, the lack of useful information about Chloe had been unsettling. It was now messing with his head, making him overly paranoid.

Hoping he wasn't heading into a trap, he stepped on the accelerator as he drove towards the address she had given him yesterday, his mind set on having her answer a few of his questions.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

He could hear the crunch of the small rocks beneath his tires when his car finally came to a halt in front of a rather considerable building. His senses were heightened; it was probably the adrenaline rush. He had no idea what was waiting for him inside of that building. Getting out of his car, he double checked the address to make sure he was at the right place. He was now in a business district, and admittedly, he had to give it to her for choosing such an inconspicuous place for their meeting.

He took in a deep breath as he walked towards the building. As soon as he got in, he headed to the elevators. She had asked him to meet him at the penthouse; he pressed the button accordingly. The elevator stopped three floors before its destination. He typed in the code Chloe had given him on the keypad, and the elevator began moving again.

The door finally opened to reveal Chloe, and he was a bit annoyed at himself for being blown away by the mere sight of her, when he still didn't know if he could really trust her.

He watched as she let out a sigh when she saw him, knew that it meant she was relieved that he had come. Had she known about the doubts he had about coming to meet her?

"I'm glad you came," Chloe said, and he could practically hear the appreciation in her voice. He just nodded, taking in her weary appearance. Her eyes were red, probably because she lacked sleep. But she was still as attractive. He couldn't help a smirk from appearing on his lips when his mind finally registered that she was wearing a green blouse with her pair of loose fitting black pants.

Had she taken his words into consideration while dressing up this morning?

If he was still a little kid, he'd be jumping with joy.

Yet, the smirk disappeared from his lips when his gaze rose back to her face. Eyebrows raised, she was looking at him disbelievingly, but with a smirk of her own. He could only look at her sheepishly and shrugged, knowing that she had caught him checking her out. Thankfully, she dropped the matter, and turned around before asking him to follow her.

He cautiously obliged, having to remind himself that the fact that she hadn't made an attempt on his life, didn't mean that he could fully let his guard down around her.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

They walked silently through a corridor before they stopped in front of a closed door. She quickly got her fingerprints scanned, and the door opened, revealing a dark room. She started walking and he followed her inside. As soon as the door closed behind them, the lights came on, and a big screen descended from the ceiling. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. But with a poker face, he still decided to question her.

"What is all of this?"

"Oh," she replied, looking back at him. "This is our newly relocated secret base…" she continued, a hint of pride in voice. "And this," she said, pointing out to the big screen, "is a map, which will help me show you a few of our activities…"

She was most likely about to go to the computer system controlling _their secret base_ when he stopped her with an observation.

"You keep saying _we_, but I only see you here."

She had frozen, probably because of the distrust she'd heard in his voice. But he couldn't have helped it. He needed to know what she was keeping from him, and who the others were…

She knew too much about him, and if he were to trust her, he needed to feel like he was on equal ground with her.

She turned back, body now facing him. He could tell that she hadn't appreciated his tone by the look on her face. He tried not to care; instead, he crossed his arms and stared at her, hard. He hoped that would make her realize that he was serious.

Her lips pursed, but then she sighed, "_We_ are a tight group of people who fight the good fight. We've been doing what you're trying to do here, by yourself, for quite a while now. We're here to help because you can't possibly do this alone."

"I'm not refusing your help. I just need to know more about who's helping."

She heaved a sigh and glared at him, but that didn't make him back away.

"That's a long story…" she offered, reluctantly.

"I have time to waste." He replied bluntly, but then added, as if to explain his discontentment. "Don't you think I'm at a disadvantage here, Miss Sullivan? You know everything about me, yet you won't even tell me who you're working with. Why should I trust you?"

"I told them that this was a bad idea…." She mumbled, more to herself than to him, as she shook her head. Eventually, she took a chair, sat on it, and with a nod, she encouraged him to do the same.

"Five questions. That's all I'll answer at the moment."

He sat down, and stared at her, a bit infuriated at how she was bossing him around. Yeah, if there was any doubt before, now he'd be certain that she was Lois's cousin alright.

Five questions, when he had so many to ask her… Like how she had gotten herself into that life… Her reasons for coming back to Metropolis… whether she had a boyfriend…

He shook his head. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"Who are you working with?" he therefore asked.

"Heroes." She answered, then offered him a few of their aliases. He nodded; he had heard about those vigilantes. "Their real identities aren't my secret to divulge, but you'll meet them soon enough."

He frowned, she was as evasive as ever, but at least he could write off the Luthors as being her employees. Her friends, despite their unlawful methods, had really made a change in certain parts of the world.

Relieved, and wanting to lighten the mood that had become quite heavy, he decided to ask her the question he had wanted to ask her since he had first seen her.

"Are you single?"

She looked taken aback, and threw him the same disbelieving look she had earlier, but eventually smiled before answering him.

"I am."

He had started smiling when she added, "But you are my cousin's ex."

"Ex being the operative word."

She let out a short chuckle and shook her head at him.

"Three questions," she reminded him.

He'd already known that she was off-limits, but he had at least tried.

"How exactly is your little group going to help me to get rid of Ultraman permanently?"

She smiled at that. She had been expecting that question.

"Who said anything about killing Clark?" At his confused look, she elaborated.

"We're here because we need the remaining green rocks you have in stock."

He was certain his eyes had widened. Had he misjudged her, after all? He was about to ask her why she thought he'd ever agree to give up on their only chance to fight Ultraman when she spoke again.

"Come again?"

"You've made a mistake by getting the word out about his weakness. We need your help to rectify that and you'll need ours to get rid of the real villain of this story."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

**_TBC_**


End file.
